Beschrijving

A central problem in political inquiry is the conceptual and linguistic informality of political science. For most of its history, the discipline has been largely pursued with the analytic and logical machinery of ordinary language. Likewise, there has been little effort to standardize how language is used, or to systematize theoretical procedures to insure methodological uniformity. In an effort to better understand and defend the research processes that attend, sustain, and foster the systematic credibility of political science, Gregor argues a special conceptual language is needed to enhance the rigor, replicability, articulation, and interpretation of political science’s empirical findings.

Gregor reviews the conceptual inventory of the social sciences in general with particular emphasis on distinctions between descriptive, theoretical, and normative language. He analyzes what might count as \